Painting Foundations: Light and the Landscape

Learn key concepts and techniques for tackling light and landscapes in acrylic paintings by completing a large, impressionistic studio painting of a skyline in Venice, Italy.

Introduction

• Welcome

1. Materials and Setup

• Painting with color and light
• Working with acrylics
• Which brush to use
• Choosing your support
• Additional materials to use

2. Drawing Out and Black and White Study

• Brushstrokes and broken edges
• Color ground for our Venetian sunset
• The importance of verticals
• Four tones of the landscape
• Poster study: Value planes
• Challenge: Grouping tones together
• Solution: Revealing the tonal studies

3. Mixing Pastel Base Colors

• Shadow-blocking in
• Selecting our color range
• Mixing our base colors
• Using glazing liquid: Blending colors
• Blocking in base colors: Sky
• Blocking in base colors: Water
• First painting: Using a rigger brush
• First painting: Using smaller brushes
• Introducing orange
• Painting the gondola
• Painting water

4. Extending Our Color Palette

• Glazing
• Adding details
• Adding texture
• Finishing touches

Conclusion

• Goodbye